Asyncos
CVE-2025-20185
LOW
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Unnecessary privilege execution
|
| Impact | CVSS score of 3.4 (LOW). Attack characteristics: local attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction not required. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.02%. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | Successful exploitation could compromise the low-severity affected system. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Mar 28, 2026
A vulnerability in the implementation of the remote access functionality of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, Cisco Secure Email Gateway, and Cisco Secure Web Appliance. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
RemediationAI
No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.
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Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified under CWE-250. A vulnerability in the implementation of the remote access functionality of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, Cisco Secure Email Gateway, and Cisco Secure Web Appliance could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to root. The attacker must authenticate with valid administrator credentials. This vulnerability is due to an architectural flaw in the password generation algorithm for the remote access functionality. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by generating a temporary password for the service account. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root and access the underlying operating system. Note: The Security Impact Rating (SIR) for this vulnerability is Medium due to the unrestricted scope of information that is accessible to an attacker. Affected products include: Cisco Asyncos.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionCVE.org
A vulnerability in the implementation of the remote access functionality of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, Cisco Secure Email Gateway, and Cisco Secure Web Appliance could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to root. The attacker must authenticate with valid administrator credentials.
This vulnerability is due to an architectural flaw in the password generation algorithm for the remote access functionality. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by generating a temporary password for the service account. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root and access the underlying operating system. Note: The Security Impact Rating (SIR) for this vulnerability is Medium due to the unrestricted scope of information that is accessible to an attacker.
Executive ViewAI
CVE-2025-20185 is a low-severity vulnerability (CVSS 3.4). The limited severity suggests constrained impact, typically requiring specific conditions or local access for exploitation. Apply vendor updates when available as part of routine maintenance.
Apply vendor patch during routine maintenance. Standard security controls provide adequate interim protection.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.
Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Email Security Appliance, Cisco Secure Email and Web Mana
A vulnerability in the configuration management of Cisco AsyncOS for Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an a
A vulnerability in the web management interface of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could a
A vulnerability in the HTTPS decryption feature of Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an unauthenticated, re
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager c
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco AsyncOS for Secure Web Appliance could allow an authenticated, local attacker to exe
A vulnerability in the log subscription subsystem of Cisco AsyncOS for the Cisco Secure Web Appliance (formerly Web Secu
A vulnerability in the administrative shell of Cisco AsyncOS on Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Content Securit
Cisco AsyncOS on Email Security Appliance (ESA) devices through 9.7.0-125 allows remote attackers to bypass malware dete
Cisco AsyncOS 9.7.0-125 on Email Security Appliance (ESA) devices allows remote attackers to bypass intended spam filter
A vulnerability in the DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities (DANE) email verification component of Cisco AsyncOS S
A vulnerability in the email scanning algorithm of Cisco AsyncOS software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB